Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to thank all members who have contributed to the debate on the Investment Funds Legislation Amendment Bill 2021. This bill will enhance the ability of the Future Fund Board of Guardians and the Future Fund Management Agency to continue investing for the benefit of future generations of Australians.

The bill puts in place a new employment framework that will reinforce the board's independence from government and provide more operational flexibility to allow the agency to recruit and retain key investment management staff from around the globe. It will also help establish staff and remuneration structures that better align with norms in the financial industry.

The bill ensures that appropriate governance, accountability and transparency measures remain in place. Providing a partial exemption under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 for the board and the agency will reduce the risk of disclosing confidential, competitive and commercially sensitive material to the detriment of investment performance and industry relationships. It aligns the treatment of the Future Fund board and the agency under the FOI Act with that of other entities that deal regularly with commercial information, such as NBN Co and Export Finance Australia.

The new disbursements framework for the Medical Research Future Fund will provide greater certainty to assist in the forward planning of grants programs and allow the important commitments under the Medical Research Future Fund 10-year investment plan to be met. It will also isolate the level of disbursements from financial market fluctuations while supporting the perpetual funding objective of the MRFF.

Once these changes are implemented, the government will issue a new investment mandate with a view to increasing target earnings over the medium term and protecting the funds balance over the long term. The bill will also transfer responsibility for expenditure from the Emergency Response Fund to the newly established National Recovery and Resilience Agency, and streamline administrative arrangements for transfers from the Emergency Response Fund Special Account.

Once again, I thank all members for their contributions. I commend the bill to the House.

See this speech in context